I have picked up a number of axe books along the way and I have had a browse looking for a makers name to match - no luck I'm afraid.
I also think the words look French so switching google search to France gives Arenc as a district in Marseille. But nothing for the other word. I was guessing that the digit in front of both words may be part of the decoration or an elongated '&'. It seems a wider space.
The books show many different sizes and shapes of axe heads - by trade, by country, by state and it appears that half the counties in England have their own derivative. Mark has found the closest match in Neumann but the only exact match I could find is in Kauffman's American axes. It is the same shape but no mark. It states unknown origin and function but is iron with a steel bit and they place it as 18th Century.
With the makers name I would agree with the already suggested c. 1800 but it may be later as it appears well forged - no signs of the join along the seams - which probably means water or steam driven hammers which would tie in with a manufacturer rather than a single smith.
Iron with a steel bit was the only option for a 'good' axe until the last half of the 19th century when steel started to become cheaper and more plentiful.
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